Sakimura with my parents

My family went to Sakimura (Saki Mura? It's spelled one way on their sign and another on their website) in Meriden tonight for my parents' 26th anniversary. I've now experienced hibachi with every possible party you can think of - church groups, girl friends, dates, and now family. On a date, it's OK, as long as you're not the only ones at your table, and I mean the only ones. Yes, that's happened to me. Actually, going out to a hibachi restaurant with your family is the ideal situation. It was our first time going as a family, and we all had a great time. I'm 21, and my brother's 17, so going out as a family isn't the same as back in the day when we could go to Chuck E. Cheese's and be amused for hours. Hibachi is perfect for parents and their older children. Conversation is cut to a minimum while everyone is entranced in the hibachi chef's work. But there's still family bonding as we lean over to whisper our amazement. Also, we had fun with trying to catch flying zucchini in our mouths and watching the chef squirt a shot of sake into my dad's mouth.

Sakimura in Meriden, so far, is the best hibachi restaurant I've been to, mainly for the great deal you get with a meal. The chefs are entertaining, as usual, which is an added bonus, but you get more for your money with the food. A hibachi dinner comes with miso soup, salad, fried rice, noodles, vegetables and your entree. And it's a ton of food. For $24, I got steak and scallops, and it was delicious. The last time I went to Sakimura, I remember there being noodles listed as part of the dinner on the menu. However, this time it wasn't, but we still got noodles, which was a pleasant surprise. They were fried with a great garlic flavor. They cook your steak to order, and while I got regular steak and my brother ordered filet mignon, I just as happy with my steak as he was with his filet. We got a good serving of vegetables and heaping piles of noodles and fried rice. We boxed our leftovers, which we inevitably had, and left extremely content.